Liquid hydrocarbon fuel burning device



March 31,1936. B, m 2,035,680

LIQUID HYDROCAR BON FUEL BURNING DEVICE 2/ Filed Dec. 13, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet l &\\\ 43 5 E .42

x y Z0 2? INVENTOR. Z 30 BOYD WTULLIS.

ATTORNEY.

March 31, 1936. B. w. 'I ULUS 2,035,680

LIQUID HYDROCARBON FUEL BURNING DEVICE Filed Dec; 13, 1953 2Sheets-Shegt 2 v INVENTOR.

BOYD-WTULLIS.

may?

1 ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES PATET OFFICE LIQUID HYDROCARBONFUEL BURNING DEVICE Boyd W. Tullis,

Wichita, Kans., assignor to The Application December 13, 1933, SerialNo. 702,176

7 Claims.

This invention relates to liquid hydrocarbon fuel burning devices inwhich there is a tank to contain liquid fuel under air pressure incontact therewith, and a vaporizing generator connected to the tank toconvert the liquid fuel into the vapor phase before it enters theburner.

The primary object of my invention is to take off some of the air asfuel to preheat the generator to liquid vaporizing temperature and thencause the air flow to cease and to thereafter allow liquid only to flowto the generator.

This general plan is disclosed in United States Patent 1,718,473, issuedJune 25, 1929, to J. E. McCutchen, but while the device disclosed insaid patent operates successfully when the liquid level in the tank isrelatively high and the air pressure is high, some difficulty has beenexperienced in obtaining the ideal operation at low liquid levels andreduced air pressure.

Another important part of my invention is the provision of means forurging the valve and its cooperating parts of accumulated fuel vaporwhich has a tendency to co-mingle with the atmosphere in the room andcause special odors. For example, usually hydrocarbon fuel burningdevices emit odoriferous vapors after the supply valve is shut oif, butwith my invention, these vapors are consumed prior to the actualshutting ofi of the supply line with respect to the generator so theobjections heretofore encountered are eliminated.

The novelty of the invention will be clearly understood by reference tothe following descriptions in connection with the accompanying drawingsin which:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a valvestructure constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of same.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 6.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5--5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of cam head, and

Figure 7 is an enlarged prospective view of the tank, valve and part ofthe burner, and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a part of the burner andthe vaporizing generator.

Referring now to the drawings bynumerals of reference, I designates atank to contain liquid fuel under air pressure in contact therewith- Thetank may be provided with a filler plug 2 to fill the tank with liquidfuel to about the level indicated at 3 so as to leave an air space 4above the liquid level which may be supplied with air under pressure bythe hand pump 5, or any other suitable means. A burner not shown havinga vaporizing generator 6 controlled by a valve 1 is connected to thetank I by a conduit 8. The valve 1 in the generator is the usual valvefor controlling the flow of fuel into the generator. All the structurethus far described is old and well known.

The fitting I is screwed in a bushing H in. the tank I. Its dischargeoutlet |2 connects to the pipe or conduit 8 by a nut I3. There is apacking gland l4 in the top of the fitting to contain a packing I with apacking nut l6 screwed in the gland, the packing nut having a transverseopening I! to receive a pin or similar tool adapted to turn the nut soas to tighten the packing.

0n the outside of the fitting is an adjustable stop nut l8 to limit thehollow elongated tubular skirt I9 of a cam stand or cam head for thecontrol lever 2|. The control lever 2| has a threaded socket 22 inthreaded engagement with the threaded end 23 of the connector 24 whichis in threaded connection with the valve stem 25 projecting through thenut IS the packing gland I4, the fitting Ill and extending into thesupply tube 26 having at its lower end a hollow head 21. The hollow head21. has a valve seat 28 surrounding an inlet opening 29 in line with theopening 30 in the tip 3|. The opening 29 can be closed by the shut offvalve 32 on the end of the stem 25. A needle 33 projects from the end ofthe stem 25 beyond the valve 32 and it is adapted to project through theV tip opening 3|.

I It should be observed that the opening 29 is appreciably larger thanthe tip opening and that the needle 33 is of less diameter than bothopenings 29 and 30 so neither of these openings are ever closed by theneedle.

The hollow head 21 has an air inlet 34 communicating with the air space4 through the air tube 35 and discharging into the fuel supply tube 26in rear of the valve seat 28.

Interposed between the end 36 of the stand 20 and the stop collar 31 isan expansion spring 38. The purpose of the spring 38 is to urge thevalve 32 on the seat 28 and to urge the needle 33 into the opening 30.

The valve 32 can be unseated and the needle 33 can be withdrawn throughthe tip opening by the lever 2| which rides over a. cam system on thestand 20 surrounded by a scale or inicating disc .39 fastened to thestand by screws or any other suitable means. The indicating disc isprovided with three indicating points for the pointer 4| on the handle2|.

The point 42 is the shut off position. When the pointer 4| is oppositethe point 42 on disc 39 all the parts are in the position shown inFigure 1, with the ball 43 urged by spring 44 on the door of the recess45 of the stand. Then all ports except 35 are closed.

When the pointer is moved to the point indicated by line 46 on the disc39, Figure 2, the ball 43 will have ridden upon the cam 41 on the floorof recess 45. The pressure of the ball against the spring 44 will raisethe lever 2|, the connector 24 and the stem 25 to unseat the valve 32but the longitudinal movement of the stem 25 will not be enough to drawthe needle or pin from the tip orifice 30. When the parts are in thesepositions the valve'l is unseated and air from the air space 4 will flowthrough the tube 35 through the pipe 26 to the generator 6 and to theburner. During the time the air flows as just described it will beenriched by liquid fuel admitted into the pipe 26 through the tiporifice, restricted by the 'pin or needle 33 (which is of less diameterthan that of the tip orifice) so that a combustible mixture will beprovided at the burner. This mixture will ignite at the. burner as afuel even when the generator is cold. Therefore, the burner can belighted .without the necessity of preheating'the vaporizing generator.After the generator is heated to vaporizing temperature, the pointer 4|is moved to the point or position indicated at49- causing the ball 43 toride upon the cam 50 which has a lobe higher than that of the cam 41. Asa result, the stem 25 is raised high enough to completely retract theneedle from the tip orifice 30 so that the liquid fuel can now flood thetube 26 to supply the generator demand. The flooding of the tube 26seals off the air supply from the space 4 so that now only liquidhydrocarbon will be supplied from the tank I so that no appreciableamount of air pressure will be lost. 7 When it is desired to discontinuethe burner operation, the pointer 4| is turned to the position indicatedat 42 with the ball off both cams 41 and 50 so the spring 38 will seatthe valve 32 so that no more liquid will be fed'to the tube 26 but theair space will still be open with relation to the tube 26 so the airpressure will continue to forcethe liquid in the tube 26 and through thegenerator into the burner until the liquid hydrocarbonis consumed by theburner so that only air from the air space 4 will fiow through thegenerator and the burner and inasmuch as air from the air space willfree the line from liquid there will be no liquid in the hot generatorto distill off obnoxious vapors. Of course, the valve 1 should be closedas soon as the burner becomes extinguished so as to prevent loss ofpressure in tank I. When it is recognized that with the valve 1 open andthe valve 32 closed only air can flow through the line in the rear ofthe liquid which has previously been admitted thereto, it will beapparent that all liquid will be consumed as a fuel before the air alonepasses through the line to the burner. This air from the space 4 is notsufficiently rich to burn and inasmuch as the air flowing through theburner tends to cool it, there will be no vaporous discharge from theburner and consequently there will be no obnoxious odors. As heretoforestated it is important to close the valve 1 as soon as the burner goesout", for by that time the air will have freed the line of liquid fuel.The element 33 is an orifice regulating valve which at no time closesthe orifice. The air from space 4 will purge the tubes of all vapors sothat if the generator valve 1 is now closed, there will be noobjectionable odor in the room. The burner is diagrammatically indicatedat 48 since the particular type of burner is unimportant. Attention iscalled to the fact that the effective cross-sectional area of the tube35 is small enough so that when the shut-off valve 3| is first unseated,and the valve 1 is open, the pressure in the font I will force thecarbureted air up thru the supply tube at a pressure less than thepressure exerted on the liquid, so that initially the liquid will flowup into the supply tube to enrich the air supplied from space 4. This isdue to the fact that when the valves are all shut off, there is anequalization of pressure in the lower end of the supply tube and uponthe liquid, therefore the only thing that would urge the liquid to fiowinto the tube- Would be the static head which is variable according tothe depth of the liquid in the font. When the tank is full, the statichead is enough to cause the liquid to instantly flow into the sup plytube when the shut-off valve is unseated, but when the liquid level isvery low the static head is so slight that the liquid will not flow intothe tube fast enough to make the desirable rich mixture for instantlighting. However, inasmuch as the cross-sectional area of the tube 35is relatively small, the frictional resistance offered to the air fromspace 4 initially cuts down the pressure at the discharge end of thetube 35, so the pressure momentarily preponderates at the inlet 30.

Of course, if the lamp has been ignited, the controlling pin 33 iswithdrawn from the tip orifice so that now the tip orifice is so largethat the liquid will readily flow into the supply tube.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described comprising a tank to containliquid hydrocarbon fuel under air pressure in contact therewith, aliquid fuel pipe having an inlet orifice at its lower end below thenormal liquid level in the tank and a discharge orifice at its upper endoutside the tank, a burner connected to the discharge end of the fuelpipe, an air supply tube having an inlet orifice in the air space abovethe normal liquid level in the tank and an outlet orifice dis.- charginginto the supply pipe between the liquid level in the tank and the inletorifice to the supply pipe, a stem in the fuel supply pipe in spacedrelation therewith having a valve between the liquid inlet orifice inthe liquid supply pipe and the air outlet of the air supply tube toclose the liquid supply pipe between its liquid inlet orifice and thedischarge orifice for the air tube so that when the lower end of theliquid supply pipe is closed air only will flow through the liquidsupply pipe to the burner to purge it.

2. A device of the class described comprising a closed tank to containliquid hydrocarbon fuel under air pressure in contact therewith, aliquid fuel supply pipe having an inlet orifice below the normal liquidlevel in the tank and a discharge orifice outside the tank, a burnerconnected to the discharge end of the supply pipe, an air supply tubehaving an inlet orifice in the air space above the normal liquid levelin the tank and an outlet orifice discharging into the'supply pipe abovethe liquid inlet orifice, a valve seat in the liquid supply pipe betweenits inlet orifice and the outlet orifice of the air supply tube, a stemin the liquid supply pipe in spaced relation therewith having a valve toengage the seat and close off communication between the liquid in thetank and the supply pipe so that air only can flow through the supplypipe and to the burner to purge it when the inlet orifice of the liquidsupply pipe is closed.

3. In a hydrocarbon fuel burning device, a closed tank to contain liquidhydrocarbon fuel under air pressure in contact therewith, a liquidsupply pipe in' the tank having a constricted liquid inlet orifice belowthe normal liquid level in the tank, said pipe having a valve seat abovethe inlet orifice below the normal liquid level in the tank, an airsupply tube, said tube communicating with the air space above the normalliquid level in the tank and with the liquid supply pipe below thenormal liquid level in the tank, a fitting connected to the liquidsupply pipe having an outlet orifice, a burner, a fuel supply pipeleading from the fitting to the burner, a valve stem in the liquid fuelsupply pipe in spaced relation with the walls thereof, longitudinallymovable therein, a shut off valve on the end of the stem to engage thevalve seat so that when the liquid fuel supply is shut off air maycontinue to flow through the liquid supply pipe to purge the same.

4. In a hydrocarbon fuel burning device a closed tank to contain liquidhydrocarbon fuel under air pressure in contact therewith, a liquidsupply pipe in the tank having a constricted liquid inlet orifice belowthe normal liquid level in the tank, said pipe having a valve seat abovethe inlet orifice and below the liquid level in the tank, an air inlettube said tube communicating with the air space above the normal liquidlevel in the tank and discharging into the liquid supply pipe below theliquid level in the tank, a fitting connected to the liquid supply pipehaving an outlet, a burner, a fuel pipe leading from the fitting to theburner, a valve stem in the first named pipe in spaced relation with thewalls thereof, longitudinally movable in the same, a shut off valve onthe lower end of the stem between the liquid inlet orifice of the liquidsupply tube and the discharge orifice of the air supply tube to engagethe valve seat so that when liquid fuel supply is shut off air maycontinue to fiow through the liquid supply pipe, and a liquid inletorifice regulator on the stem projecting through the inlet orifice forthe liquid supply pipe said regulator being of uniform diameter lessthan that of the diameter of the inlet orifice.

5. A device of the class described comprising a closed tank to containliquid hydrocarbon fuel under air pressure in contact therewith, avertical liquid fuel supply pipe having its inlet orifice below thenormal liquid level in the tank and its discharge end outside the tank,the inlet orifice for the liquid fuel supply pipe being of less diameterthan that of the pipe, an open air supply tube having an inlet orificein the air space above the normal liquid level in the tank and itsoutlet orifice discharging into the supply pipe above the liquid inletorifice and below the normal liquid level in the tank, a valve seat inthe liquid supply pipe above its inlet orifice and below the outletorifice for the air tube, a stem in the supply pipe having a valve toengage the seat and manually operated means for actuating the stem tocause the valve to seat and unseat.

6. A device of the class described comprising a closed tank to containliquid hydrocarbon fuel under air pressure in contact therewith, avertical liquid fuel supply pipe having its inlet orifice below thenormal liquid level in the tank and its discharge end outside the tank,the inlet orifice for the liquid fuel supply pipe being of less diameterthan that of the pipe, an air supply tube having its inlet in the airspace above the normal liquid level in the tank and its outletdischarging into the supply pipe above the liquid inlet orifice andbelow the normal liquid level in the tank, a valve seat in the liquidsupply pipe above its inlet orifice and below the outlet orifice for theair tube, a stem in the supply pipe having a valve to engage the seat, astand having cams thereon and a head on the stem movable over the camsto longitudinally move the stem to cause the valve in the liquid supplypipe to seat and unseat so that when the valve is unseated air andliquid will be supplied to the liquid supply pipe and when the valve isseated air only will pass through the liquid supply pipe.

7. In combination with a portable tank to contain liquid hydrocarbonfuel under air pressure in contact therewith a fuel supply pipe in thetank having a restricted liquid inlet orifice at its lower end and avalve seat at the juncture of the constricted inlet orifice and thelarger portion of the pipe, an open ended air tube having its inlet endin communication with the, air space in the tank and its outlet enddischarging into the pipe above the valve seat, a valve stem extendinginto the supply pipe having a constricted inlet regulator of lessdiameter than that of the inlet orifice, a valve at the juncture of thestem and the inlet regulator to engage the seat and manually operatedmeans for the valve stem so that when the valve is unseated withtheregulator in the inlet orifice air and liquid hydrocarbon will passinto the fuel supply pipe with the air preponderating over that of theliquid and when the stem is operated to withdraw the regulator apreponderating amount of liquid fuel will pass into the supply pipe toseal off the air and when the valve is seated liquid will be shut offand air only will be permitted to pass through the liquid supply pipe.

BOYD W. TULLIS.

